Estimated Time of Arrival
by Apollopeach
Summary: Lukas has waited for his boyfriend, Mathias, to come home from his work-related trip for a month now, and for most of that time, he has been surprisingly lonely. So he couldn't help but leave for the train station early on the day that Mathias was expected home. Little does he know that a longer wait than expected is in store... (This is a happy story, I swear) DenNor fluff.


Norway – Lukas

Denmark – Mathias

Finland – Tino

Sweden – Berwald

Iceland – Emil

 **A/N: This is a human AU set in a time period that traveling by a steam-powered train was the norm. This is also the first fanfiction I have ever written and I really hope you all enjoy this! Reviews are always welcome! Don't like, don't read.**

 **Disclaimer: I own neither Hetalia nor any of the characters (except the little girl, her mom, and her dad), Hidekazu Himaruya does.**

Estimated Time of Arrival

That morning, Lukas woke up to the sound of his alarm clock at 8:00 AM. At first, he had no idea what the thing was going off for, but then he remembered: it was the day that he had waited what felt like forever for. As he dragged himself out of bed, he grabbed his cross-shaped hairclip and some clean clothes and stumbled down the stairs. In the kitchen, he managed to make himself some coffee and an edible breakfast, and while doing so, he glanced at the calendar. He knew exactly what day it was, but he did it out of habit anyway. Today was the day that Mathias, his boyfriend, was coming home from his month-long work-related trip. When he had first left, Lukas had told himself that he was glad to get some peace and quiet, but the reality of it was that he had been surprisingly lonely for most of the time, and he missed the presence of his lovable and boisterous significant other, no matter how annoying Mathias could be sometimes. So practically from the beginning of the long stretch of time, Lukas had subconsciously counted down the days until Mathias' expected arrival home, and today was finally the day.

He grabbed his coat on the way out of their house, and departed for the train station, taking a deep breath of the crisp morning air. He glanced at his wristwatch: 9:00 AM. He had plenty of time. As Lukas started walking to the station, he saw Tino, their neighbor and good friend, outside walking his small dog, Hanatamago.

"Good morning, Lukas!" Tino greeted, in as cheerful a voice as ever.

"Good morning."

"What are you doing up and out so early on a weekend? I thought you weren't a morning person?"

"I'm not, but today's the day that Mathias is coming home, so I was just heading to the train station."  
"Oh, is that today? But I recall you saying that he was supposed to arrive at around noon."

"Yes, but I don't have anything better to do, so I'm going a little early."

"Is that so? Well, give him a greeting from me and Berwald when you see him!"

"Ok."

And with a curt nod, Lukas started walking towards the station again. As Tino watched his receding figure, he gave a knowing smile. He knew that despite how apathetic Lukas seemed about Mathias coming home, he really had missed him while he was gone, and that Lukas cared about Mathias much more than he showed on a regular basis. Tino snapped out of his reverie when Hanatamago started to pull on the leash to chase a butterfly.

"Oh Hana, what am I to do with you?" he said, shaking his head in exasperation.

Upon arriving at the station, Lukas scanned the arrivals board for the train that Mathias was to be on. Estimated time of arrival: 12:00 PM. There didn't seem to be any delays, which was a relief, but there were still about two and a half hours until noon, so anything could happen. Either way, however, Lukas had no intention of leaving without Mathias. He sat down on a nearby bench, but not after buying a coffee from a nearby vendor. Blowing lightly on it, he watched the steam curl into wisps that floated towards the domed ceiling. There were pigeons flitting about up in the rafters, and he could see some dust motes floating in the sunbeams. As he waited, he couldn't help but think about what he would say to Mathias when he saw him. _I missed you_? _I'm glad you're back_? _You should do this more often, I enjoyed the peace and quiet_? No, definitely not the last one, Mathias would immediately see through that lie. As he mused about this while sipping on his coffee, he noticed a little girl with wavy brown hair in two pigtails and bundled up in a red coat seat herself on the other side of the bench, swinging her legs. She didn't seem to be with anyone.

"Are you waiting for someone too, mister?" she asked him.

"Yes, someone very important to me."

"Oh, me too! I'm waiting for my dad. He's supposed to be back on the noon train from Copenhagen. When's your person coming home?"

"Actually, he's coming home at noon as well, and on that same train no less."  
"That's cool! We can wait together! My mom said that I'm not supposed to talk to strangers, but you seem nice, so I'll make an exception." She exclaimed, her pigtails waving with every movement of her head. She grinned at him with the last statement, and then proceeded to go on and on about her family and how her mother had let her come to the station early because she was so excited. When she was done with her tale, she asked him why he was there so early, and so Lukas told her about how he had been waiting for Mathias for a month and he missed him dearly so he was there to be the first person to welcome him home, to which the girl replied,

"That's a good reason."

And then started talking about how much she loved the winter and snow and pigeons and trains, etc. etc., all while Lukas diligently listened to every word. She actually reminded him of his younger brother, Emil, when he was younger.

It was 11:45 now, and the train the two were waiting for was still expected to arrive at noon. Right at that moment, a woman with wavy brown hair approached the bench. She was apparently the little girl's mother. She thanked Lukas for looking after her daughter, to which he replied that it was no problem, and before heading towards the arrival platform, the little girl dug around in her pocket, pulling out a red button. She beckoned for him to bend over, and she handed it to him and whispered in his ear that it was a present for "being such a nice stranger". Lukas smiled at that. When noon rolled around, the train arrived at the station in a puff of steam. They said their goodbyes and went their separate ways to each find the person they had been waiting for.

Lukas craned his neck over the sea of heads, trying to find the familiar gravity-defying blond hair of his boyfriend, but saw nothing. Frowning, he glanced back at the arrival board, trying to make sure that it really was the noon train that Mathias was supposed to be arriving on. It was. _Well, then where is he?_ He thought to himself, still scanning the crowd. He caught a glimpse of the little girl hugging a dark-haired man and smiled, glad that at least she had found the person she had been waiting for. As the sea of people started to thin, he deemed that Mathias had met some unprecedented circumstances and missed that train, so he went back to the bench to wait some more. He bought another coffee then, seeing as the next train from Copenhagen was supposed to arrive at 1:00, and he crossed his legs, blowing on the hot liquid, getting the sense that he was just repeating what he had done that morning. He sighed, his cheeks and nose already red from the cold, it was the beginning of December after all, and took a long sip from the cup in his hands.

One o'clock rolled around, and another train arrived in another puff of steam. He quickly reached the arrival platform this time, already craning his neck in the hopes of seeing Mathias, but again, no such luck. The same thing happened at 2:00, and then at 3:00, and at every hour until it was nearly 6:00 PM. He had been at the station for nearly 7 hours now, and he knew that the last train was at 10:00 PM on weekends. He had become concerned at around 4:00, so now he was beside himself with worry, pacing near the platform until people started looking at him strangely. He had already consumed about 6 cups of coffee by now and was feeling jittery, which didn't exactly help his state of mind, and he couldn't bring himself to just go home; he had to wait. So he did. It was starting to snow outside, and the sun was just setting over the horizon in a brilliant display of orange, pink, and purple. He palmed the red button that he had received from the little girl for about the millionth time since noon, and searched the crowd of people from the 6:00 train. Again, there was no sign of that unruly head of blonde locks or that obnoxiously loud voice, that at that moment, Lukas would have given anything to hear. He resigned himself to having to wait yet another hour there. His initial irritation of having to wait for longer than he had expected had long since been replaced with anxiety and just the need to see Mathias again. He retreated back to the now familiar bench and stuck his hands in his coat pockets. He wished he had brought gloves or a scarf or something to keep him warmer in this bitter cold weather.

Lukas watched many other trains pass in and out of the station, and people come and go. Feeling almost unbearably alone, he looked at the arrivals board again, making sure that it was indeed the 10:00 PM train that was the last one from Copenhagen that day. He just hoped that Mathias would be home by then and they would be curled up together on the living room couch, all warm and cozy, as he should have been right now. But the way things were looking, he would most likely still be at the train station for at least one more hour. He sighed for the who-knows-how-many-th time that day and tilted his head up to gaze at the ceiling far above him. It had finally struck 9:00 PM, 12 hours since he had left the house that morning, and Mathias had not appeared on that train either. At this point, he was contemplating whether to kiss Mathias when he came home or slap him for making him wait this long.

Finally, the last train of the day rolled into the station at 10:00 PM. There were scarcely any people left at the station at this time, and he didn't see anyone familiar in the initial rush of people. He was just about to leave in defeat and plod home, but then, with the last trickle of people from the train, there also came a very familiar-looking blonde. Upon finally seeing him, he froze. He had waited for a month (and 13 hours) for Mathias to come home, and he finally had. And Lukas had no idea what to say or how to react, despite how long he had thought about it while waiting. Mathias obviously didn't see him, and just assumed that Lukas had gone home after the noon train, so he most definitely was not expecting to get attacked by exactly that person hugging him tightly with his face buried in the crook of his neck.

"Wh-What? Lukas?" Mathias stammered in surprise, dropping his briefcase and lightly wrapping his arms around him.

Lukas just mumbled something and hugged him even tighter. Mathias definitely wasn't complaining, but upon noticing how cold Lukas felt, he slightly pulled away, cupping Lukas' face in his hands, and asked in shock,

"How long have you been here? Were you waiting for me since noon?!"

Lukas nodded, blushing slightly, and keeping his eyes trained on the ground. Mathias sighed, and pulled him close again, breathing in his scent. Oh, how he had missed him. He wondered if Lukas had felt the same, but then again, his reaction was all the answer he needed. When they pulled away, Lukas stood on his tiptoes and kissed his boyfriend on the lips. Mathias smiled and kissed him back, settling his arms comfortably around Lukas' waist, just enjoying the feeling of finally being where he wanted to be, with the love of his life. They stayed that way for a while; cold lips moving on warm ones. Once they separated, Lukas whispered while smiling slightly,

"Welcome home."

To which Mathias replied with a grin,

"It's good to be back."


End file.
